The armed forces of the United Kingdom are known as the British Armed Forces or Her Majesty's Armed Forces, officially the Armed Forces of the Crown. Their Commander-in-Chief is the Queen and they are managed by the Ministry of Defence.
The British Armed Forces are charged with protecting the United Kingdom and its overseas territories, promoting Britain's wider security interests, and supporting international peacekeeping efforts. They are active and regular participants in NATO and other coalition operations.
The British Army had a reported strength of 112,700 in 2004, including 7,600 women, and the Royal Air Force a strength of 53,400. The 40,900-member Royal Navy is in charge of the United Kingdom's independent strategic nuclear arm, which consists of four Trident missile submarines, while the Royal Marines provide commando units for amphibious assault and for specialist reinforcement forces in and beyond the NATO area. This puts total active duty military troops in the 210,000 range.
Along with France and Russia, Britain fields one of the most powerful and comprehensive military forces in Europe. Despite Britain's wide ranging capabilities, recent defence policy has a stated assumption that any large operation would be undertaken as part of a coalition. Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq (Granby, No-Fly-Zones, Desert Fox and Telic) may all be taken as precedent - indeed the last true war in which the British military fought alone was the Falklands War of 1982.
UKArmedForces in Iraq have shot and killed Iraqi civilians, including an eight-year-old girl and a guest at a wedding celebration, in situations where there was no apparent threat to themselves or others, says a new report from Amnesty International.
Killings by UKarmedforces, in situations where they should not be using lethal force, are examined in secrecy and behind closed doors.
UK soldiers -- responding to the sound of bullets fired into the air in celebration -- fired five shots at him from 50 yards away, despite reportedly being told by a neighbour not to fire and that the earlier shots were in celebration.
WHEREAS the ArmedForces Bill 2006 is currently being debated in the British Parliament.
WE DEMAND that Section 8 of the ArmedForces Bill 2006 be scrapped.
The UKArmedForces Bill - Section 8 Petition to UK Secretary of State for defence John Reid was created by Payday a network of men working with the Global Women's Strike and written by Ben Martin (payday@paydaynet.org).
Feeds |
Contact